Back-supporter.



No. 880,904 PATENTED MAR. 3, 1908.

J. H. MUELLER.

BACK SUPPORTER.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT.19,1907.

atto'wuug S JOHN H. MUELLER, OF OAKLEY, ILLINOIS.

BACK-SUPPORTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 3, 1908.

Application filed September 19, 1907. Serial No. 393,746.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. MUELLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oakley, in the county of Macon, State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Back-Supporters; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to back supporters or braces and is designed for use by persons employed as cotton pickers, corn shuckers, and other occupations requiring considerable bending of the back.

I further have in view the provision of a support of this class which will be adaptable to persons of different build without requiring adjustments and which may be readily applied and removed and when applied, will e ectually brace the users back.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a view showing the supporter applied, and, Fig. 2 is a detail view of the supporter when removed.

As shown in the drawings the supporter is of composite construction being made up of padded inelastic sections and elastic sections which are interposed between the said padded inelastic sections. As stated above, the supporter is made up of inelastic and elastic sec tions and of the former there are four, two of them being in the form of leg bands and the other two in the form of shoulder straps or pads, while of the latter sections there are three, two being interposed between the leg bands and the corresponding shoulder straps and the third one between the two shoulder straps themselves, the leg bands being of course located one at each end of the supporter. Each of the leg bands is indicated by the numeral 5 and is formed of a length of cloth which is folded lengthwise and stitched substantially in a line with the middle of the cloth or strip. These bands are unpadded except for a short distance oftheir extent and these padded portions, indicated by the numeral 6, are formed by cutting the length of cloth of greater width for the proper distance and then stufling and stitching the edges together, as indicated at 7.

As heretofore stated certain of the elastic sections are connected with the leg bands and these sections are indicated by the numeral 8 and may be formed of garter elastic or any' other suitable elastic material. As a means for connecting these elastic sections 8 with the leg bands, a loop 9 of cloth isends are not stitched one to the other as in the case of the leg bands. These shoulder pieces are provided with padded portions 11 which are so located that when the device is applied to the body they will rest directly on top of the shoulders. The ends of the two shoulder pieces other than their ends to which the elastic sections 8 are connected, are connected by means of an elastic section 12 which is, as in the case of the sections 8, preferably formed of garter elastic although other suitable elastic material may be used.

The construction of the entire supporter having now been made clear, a statement of its manner of application to the body will now be given: In applying the supporter to the body the user inserts his legs through the leg bands and then turns the supporter so that the elastic sections 8 will intersect each other across his back immediately below the shoulders. The shoulder sections will then extend from his shoulders with their padded portions resting directly upon his shoulders and the elastic section 12 will extend across his back at a point below the shoulders but above the point of intersection of the elastic sections 8.

What is claimed, is

1. A back supporter comprising inelastic leg bands which are padded throughout a portion of their extent, elastic sections connected to the leg bands adjacent the padded portions, inelastic added shoulder sections stitched, and an elastic section connecting 10 connected to the ot ier ends of the said elasthe two inelastic shoulder sections, substantic sections, and an elastic section connecting tially as described.

the other ends of the shoulder sections. In testimony whereof, I afiix my signa- 5 2. A supporter of the class described comture, in presence of two Witnesses.

prising leg bands, loops attached to the leg JOHN H. MUELLER.

ands, elastic sections passed through the Witnesses: lo'ops, inelastic padded shoulder sections to GUs OLARKsON,

which the ends of the elastic sections are G. A. DRUM. 

